Rise of the Moon
by MisteryMaiden
Summary: Uzumaki Naruto has a secret. If only he knew what this one was. Rewrite of Mangetsu Kitsune.
1. Prologue

**So here it is! The rewrite of Mangetsu Kitsune. I wasn't planning on writing this so soon but the plunnie hit me last night and I got the prologue and most of the first chapter written so...yeah.**

 **I will tell you all now that there has been a significant change in the story. For one, this no longer takes place during the wave arc. I won't tell you when it takes place but I've moved it rather far up.**

 _ **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**_

* * *

 **Prologue**

Uzumaki Naruto was not one that let life get him down, stubbornly and insistently refusing to let the cold looks of the people around him get to him. It was sheer will power that kept him from hating the villagers of Konohagakure and their cold, uncaring eyes. Once, when he was younger, he considered giving in to the hatred that liked to rise up in his chest during the cold nights he'd spent on the streets, not allowed into the orphanage that should have been his home.

That was before, though. Before the kind gentle old man that ruled the village found him underneath that bridge when he was seven years old. Before he was given a place to live, food on his table, and the knowledge that despite everything there was still one person out there that cared about the lonely blond orphan named Uzumaki Naruto.

Ever since that day where the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, changed his life Naruto had forcibly kept the darkness within him at bay. He was no longer alone in the world and he would keep it that way if he had to fight for it, kicking and screaming.

So even as the sun set and the last of the children and parents left the park, Naruto kept on swinging and ignored the disappointment that came after another afternoon watching other children play while he watched from afar. It was alright, he didn't need them anymore. Jiji was the only one he needed.

Happily kicking his legs and pushing backwards, imitating the motions he'd observed another child making, Naruto let himself drift off in his thoughts. He ignored the disappearing light and the slow rise of a full moon above head, not concerned for he had never taught to fear the night. The darkness was no danger to him, who had spent weeks outside alone.

That night was much different than ever before. Tonight, there was something in the village to be feared, a monster that had never graced the streets of Konohagakure since the very beginning.

And one little blond boy, alone on a swing, had just become the beat's prey.

* * *

Screaming echoed in the quiet of the night, accompanied by enraged howls. Alarmed shouts of shinobi broke through the once peaceful night as they fought the creature and the civilians of Konohagakure huddled inside their homes, praying for the poor souls that confronted the monster that waited outside, lurking in the shadows.

Tell-tale barking and snarling from the Inuzuka nin-dogs and the sounds of battle soon drowned out the monstrous howls and by the rise of the sun, all noise of battle had faded from existence. Frightened and uncertain citizens soon exited their homes and found no sign of any danger, the only evidence of a battle having happened displayed the destruction of the park, which was slowly being rebuilt by a few genin teams.

No one questioned the events of that night, and in time it was forgotten about entirely. The park was rebuilt and the danger never presented itself again. It was almost as if the event had never happened.

Yet one blond boy would never forget those hungered, gold eyes and the sharp pain of teeth sinking into his flesh. Even as the wounds closed and the scars faded into nearly nothing, Uzumaki Naruto would never be the same as he was before. In one night, the entire course of history had been changed.

And it would be years before anyone knew it.

* * *

Inside of the small blond boy, deep within the boy's very soul, another battle was taking place. Silver mist and blood red chakra engaged in an all out battle, fighting for dominance.

The two forced clashed and battled for days until out of sheer desperation, the red chakra formed a cage around the silver mist, dragging it deep within the depth of the soul and trapping it there. A constant flow of the red chakra was the only thing keeping it from spreading and infecting the host body.

The Kyuubi, exhausted from the battle, withdrew deep into his cage, content with the victory. **"Be grateful, brat."** The fox rumbled from behind the bars.

* * *

 **So there's the prologue! Let me know what you all think.**

 **~MisteryMaiden~**


	2. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto._**

 **Chapter One**

Pain unlike anything he'd ever felt before filled his body and hazed his mind, flowing with a vengeance from the fingers pressed against his stomach. Wait, Naruto thought through the haze. The fingers against his skin were gone and his back was pressed against a cold, rough surface. What had happened?

Suddenly, the memories returned in full force and Naruto bolt up from his place on the ground, startling the other genin around him. He dearly regretted that action as he fell back to ground and curled into a ball, the pain threatening to send him back into unconsciousness.

"Hey, you okay?" a familiar friendly voice asked from above him. Naruto pried his eyes open to see Choji watching him was concern.

"Fine," he forced out and fought down the pain. Complaining would get him nowhere, he already knew that well. Choji gave him a look that clearly stated he wasn't buying it and Shikamaru, standing to the left of his friend, shared that look. He was saved from further questioning by the timely intervention of Sasuke.

"Finally awake, dobe?" the bastard asked, arrogant smirk plastered on his face. The Uchiha looked like he was completely uninjured from their encounter with the Snake Freak and Naruto resented him for that. Sasuke had been the one that wanted to give up, the one that had been ready to let everything they'd worked for fall apart. There hadn't even been a guarantee that the scroll was what that freak had wanted!

And for once in his life, Naruto had been the hero. Unlike with Zabuza and Haku, where Sasuke had saved his life, it was Naruto who had shielded the Uchiha. And Sasuke had the nerve to look completely unharmed and was moving with no sign of pain. A part of Naruto hated his teammate for that.

A part that was quickly forced down, locked away with the rest of the anger and resentment he'd accumulated over the years. Naruto moved his left arm to brace himself as he stood up. There was no way he was going to allow himself to look weak in front of all these people. He refused. So he did what he did best and grinned, pretending that there was nothing wrong.

"Eh?!" Naruto exclaimed, eyeing Sakura's short hair in shock and looked around the clearing to see torn up dirt and general destruction. "What happened?!"

As Sakura began to explain, Naruto forced himself to ignore the haze of pain that still threatened the edges of his vision.

They had an exam to pass, after all.

* * *

It was becoming more and more apparent that there was something wrong with him. His chakra was sluggish and the pain in his limbs refused to fade. It had been from will power alone that he'd managed to pull a win over Kiba during the preliminaries. Naruto refused to allow himself to appear weak, especially with Sasuke and Sakura acting like they were completely fine.

His teammates seemed oblivious to his struggle as Naruto pulled and shoved at his chakra with all his might, unable to summon more than five clones compared the twenty or thirty he usually managed without even trying. There was something really wrong with his chakra and Naruto didn't know what to do.

He'd been planning on asking Kakashi for help but the man had disappeared with Sasuke and it had taken Naruto ages to track that man down. Only to be told that Kakashi had found another teacher for him. His sensei was passing him off onto a stranger in order to focus on something else. Naruto knew, however, that it was just an excuse to go off and train Sasuke.

It stung, more than Naruto was willing to admit. He'd always thought that Kakashi was different than his other teachers. Ever since the mission to Wave, he'd been slowly growing to trust the odd jounin. Kakashi didn't look at him in the same way that rest of the village did and Naruto grasped onto the fact with an iron grip.

Naruto felt the words he'd been about to say die on his tongue and he turned to find Ebisu waiting for him. "Hey, you're that closet per-!" his sentence was cut off as a hand appeared around his mouth.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at Ebisu but the Tokubetsu Jounin was already whispering bribery in Naruto's ear to keep the blond quiet about that…incident. "Ebisu is an expert in training the elite," the man continued to explain to the gagged blond. "With his help, you'll be able to improve upon your chakra control as well as the basics."

 _'_ _My chakra control is just as good as the teme's!'_ Naruto raged inside, angered beyond belief. He'd mastered Tree Climbing at the same time as Sasuke and he didn't see that teme being forced to improve on it even further! Yet he didn't argue the point any further, knowing that it would be useless.

As Ebisu lead him away from his sensei, Naruto was forced to come to the conclusion that while Kakashi didn't look at him with hatred, he didn't see him as worth anything. His sensei couldn't even be bothered to train him for the Third Exam, focusing on Sasuke instead.

As he raged, Naruto ignored the hypocritical ranting of the closet pervert, even as they entered the hot springs. He did have to give the man credit; he'd chosen a great place to practice the water walking. Falling into the springs was painful and Naruto found that grasping onto the concept of the technique was much easier when he had the threat of falling into the boiling water motivating him.

He even managed to forget about the pain he'd been in as he focused on pushing the chakra into his feet steadily. It was hard work as he was still having trouble directing it but he managed to only sink to his ankles.

While practicing that technique, his concentration was thrown as the closet pervert starting screaming something, rushing at one of the other males in the hot springs. He completely lost all of his focus as a giant frog appeared and smacked down the closet pervert, knocking the man unconscious.

Dragging himself out of the boiling water, he moved over to his fallen teacher. _'I knew it,'_ he thought as he shook the ninja. The man didn't ever stir. _'He's really weak.'_

Turning to the pervert ontop of the frog, Naruto glared. "Hey! Who the hell are you?! What's with the giant frog?!"

"Alright, hold on!" The white haired man yelled, grinning insanely. _'Man, what a weirdo!'_ Naruto thought, grimacing. "I'm glad you asked. Mount Myoboku's Holy Master Sennin, also known as Jiraiya the Toad Sennin! Remember it!"

Naruto stared at the man as he hoped on the toad. The pain in his stomach flared once again, dragging him out of his stupor and reminding him of what he had been doing. The scalding water and the constant focusing of his chakra had distracted him from the pain and it was returning with a vengeance. "Hey perverted Sennin!" Naruto yelled at the man, deciding to ignore returning pain. "What the hell did you do to my teacher?! He was supposed to be training me!"

The perverted Sennin looked down to the unconscious man and shrugged, hoping down to the ground as the giant frog ( _'Toad,'_ Naruto corrected himself) vanished into a puff of smoke. "It's his own fault," the Sennin said. "He interrupted my research! I'm a writer working on a novel!" A hand reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a familiar orange book.

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed, a picture of Kakashi holding that same book flashing into his head.

"Oh, you know it?" The man seemed pleased. That didn't last long.

"I know it! That's the nasty book Kakashi-sensei's always reading!" Naruto yelled, pointing at it accusingly. He'd stolen the book once out of curiosity and he'd regretted the decision ever since.

The man slumped, looking almost glum. "Anyway, what do you mean by research?! All you were doing was peeping into the woman's bather, you pervert! If you were my age, it might be just a prank but an old man doing that is totally a crime!" Naruto yelled, taking pleasure in the gasps that came from the fence behind him. No doubt all of the woman would be vacating the bath quite quickly. Served the pervert right!

"You brat! I'm not just a pervert! Peeping gives me inspiration to write better!"

"Liar! What a lame excuse!" Naruto rebuked the man, glaring. Why were all grownups such perverts? Even Jiji was a closet pervert and Kakashi-sensei didn't even bother to hide that he was a pervert as well! "Now what are you going to do about my training!"

The man waved a hand dismissively. "I hate disrespectful brats!" he growled at the blond. "And I don't like men!"

Naruto gave the Ero-Sennin a considering look. Didn't like men, huh? Pulling on his chakra, Naruto formed the familiar hand signs, grinning. A poof of smoke later and a very naked female stood in his face.

Like he'd expected, the pervert immediately developed a nosebleed, grinning outrageously. "I like you!" he exclaimed. Naruto fought the urge to snicker. "What creativity! You're a genius!"

That caused the blond to pause. His jutsu had never been called genius before and a warm feeling stirred in his gut. "Does that mean you'll help with my training?" He asked, jutting out his bottom lip like he'd seen some girls do when they wanted to get their way.

"Yes!" Jiraiya yelled, giving Naruto a thumbs up. "On one condition…"

"What's that?" Naruto asked, curious. He could barely believe that he'd convinced the guy so easily with this.

Jiraiya grinned at the blond. "In my presence you must always be like that!"

"I knew it!" Naruto yelled, transforming back and pointing at the man. There was no way he was doing that! It was already hard enough to pull out his chakra! "You're just a pervert!"

"I'm not just a pervert!" The Sennin said, pointing back and looking rather offended. "I am a Super Pervert!"

 _'_ _He admitted it,'_ Naruto thought, sweat-dropping.

"Heh, well that was just a joke," the sage shrugged. "I'll look over your training. Go continue what you were doing."

Naruto grinned. Pervert or not, this man was still agreeing to teach him with no Kakashi involved. In fact, the white haired man actually looked interested as he watched Naruto step into the water, sinking ankle deep.

Fighting against his chakra, Naruto forced it to his feet with as much effort as he could. It still wasn't enough, however, and he soon found himself back underneath the water.

 _'_ _That's not right,'_ Jiraiya thought, frowning as Naruto pulled himself out of the water again. "Hey kid! Take off your shirt and jacket and get over here!"

 _'_ _Sure is demanding,'_ Naruto thought ungraciously as he pulled both pieces of clothing over his head and tossed them onto the ground. He always felt so naked without his jacket on. Resolving to get this over, he marched up to his new teacher as instructed.

"Pull out your chakra for me, will you?" Jiraiya asked with a keen eye. Naruto obliged. As he pulled out the chakra, a very detailed seal appeared on his stomach.

 _'_ _There's the problem,'_ Jiraiya thought, studying the five pronged seal that stood out roughly against the elegance of the rest of the seal. No doubt it had been placed there on purpose by another party. The seal the Yondaime placed upon Naruto to contain the Kyuubi was genius, designed to filter and combine the Kyuubi's chakra into Naruto's, making it possible for Naruto to use the potent chakra without harm. The interference of the five pronged seal had halted that feature and made it impossible for the two different chakras to combine, no doubt throwing off all of Naruto's chakra control. The fact that Naruto was able to manipulate his chakra as much as he was…frankly, it was amazing and a testament to the boy's potential.

"Come over here," Jiraiya motioned. Naruto frowned but did so anyways. "Raise your hands in the air like this."

Naruto did as instructed, not sure where this was going. He was caught by surprise and five fingers slammed into his stomach where that Snake Freak had. Doubling over, Naruto was surprised to find that the pain he'd been in since then vanished immediately and his chakra seemed to begin flowing properly again. Whatever that other guy had done, the Ero-Sennin had obviously noticed it and had fixed it for him.

"Now try that technique again," the man said, smirking at him.

Naruto did, stepping atop the water with little to no effort. "Yatta!"

"Alright, gaki!" Jiraiya called over. "Get over here! I'm going to teach you a special technique."

Naruto fought down the surprise that threatened to burst over his face. This guy had already fixed his chakra for him and now he was offering to teach him a new technique? Kakashi-sensei had never even offered to do that. Already, Ero-Sennin was in higher standing than his genin teacher.

"First, there's something you need to understand," Jiraiya said, holding up a single finger.

"Yeah?" Naruto asked, curious.

"You have two types of chakra in your system." The man told him point blank. Naruto's suspicions on whether or not Ero-Sennin knew who he was were confirmed. "Your normal chakra and a special chakra."

Naruto frowned, thoughtful.

Jiriaya sighed. "What does your chakra feel like when you call on it?"

"Warm," the blond supplied easily. "It's like of like a breeze."

 _'_ _Breeze?'_ Jiraiya thought. _'Might be a Wind Type, then.'_ "That's good." He told the waiting blond. "Now have you ever called on another type of chakra?"

Naruto thought back to the bridge, when the flaming red chakra had coated his entire body, almost burning hot yet also cold with rage mixed into it. "Yeah," he said, nodding. "Was that…?"

Jiraiya looked at him in surprise. He hadn't thought that Naruto would know about the Kyuubi yet. "It was."

"Well!" Jiraiya said after another moment. "It's getting late so let's save that technique for tomorrow! Meet me here first thing tomorrow. I'll go take this guy in."

"You got it!" Naruto said, fist pumping in the air. He might not have Kakashi teaching him but he'd found a much better teacher than the masked pervert would ever be.

Jiraiya watched as the blond raced away, excited. _'So much like his mother,'_ he thought fondly. He was glad that he'd sent word ahead to Kakashi that he'd be back in town, else the jounin would likely have already started the blond's training. He might not be able to take Naruto in but he'd be damned if he wasn't part of his godson's life _somehow._

 _'_ _I have to admit,'_ Jiraiya thought as he threw Ebisu over his shoulder. _'I didn't expect him to look some much like his father. And that orange! We're going to have to do something about that.'_

With one last glance at the disappearing Naruto's back, Jiraiya hopped up onto the roof and headed for the hospital.

* * *

 **Here it is! The First chapter! As you can see, I made a _lot_ of changes to the story. I wasn't going to at first but after rereading what I had of Mangetsu Kitsune...I cringed. Oh my god, it was so bad. And rushed. I have no idea what I was thinking when I was writing that and reading it made me want to cry. **

**It was like reading something someone else wrote. I honestly have no idea why so many people liked it. Frankly, there was no way I was ever going to be able to continue on with it as it was.**

 **I hope you all liked the new chapter! Leave a review and let me know what you think!**

 **~MisteryMaiden~**


	3. Chapter 2

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto._**

 **Chapter Two**

Naruto was dreaming of a monster with golden yellow eyes and teeth the size of chopsticks. It was chasing him, howling in anger as he ran down the dark and empty roads of Konoha. The beast was right on his heels, snapping at his ankles as he ran.

Naruto could feel the beast's breath on his neck as it got closer, the light of the full moon illuminating it from behind him, casting a giant shadow that he couldn't escape even as he ran with all of his strength.

"Naruto!" a voice called out to him. Naruto glanced around harshly, searching for the person that called to him.

"Wake up!"

Naruto jerked, flailing as he tumbled off the bench and onto the hard ground. Growning, he looked up to see Ero-Sennin standing above him with raised eyebrows. "About time," the man commented. "Some dream you were having there."

Naruto laughed weakly, rubbing his hands against his eyes to dislodge the sleep from them. He'd been waiting for Ero-Sennin to get there, he remembered. He must have fallen asleep while he waited. "What's the technique you were going to show me, Ero-Sennin?" Naruto asked as he stood from his spot on the ground.

Jiraiya paused from the name before shaking his head. It was no use arguing with an Uzumaki, he recalled with a grimace. Biting down on his thumb, Jiraiya let his hands flash through the necessary hand signs before he slammed his palm down on the ground. He could have, technically, only used his chakra and the blood but he wanted Naruto to get a good look at how it was done before he slowed it down to teach the blond.

A puff of smoke and a toad bigger than Naruto appeared, carrying a scroll on its back. Naruto stared in awe, his eyes wide. He remembered Kakashi-sensei doing something similar to summon his dogs. "Uzumaki Naruto meet Gama, the keeper of the Toad Summoning Scroll."

 _'_ _Toad Summoning Scroll?'_ Naruto wondered, eyeing the giant toad warily. This was the same toad that had knocked the closet pervert unconscious. _'Speaking of that pervert, he still owes me ramen!'_ He would have to track the man down later. Preferably _after_ he learned this new jutsu.

A scroll slamming into the dirt at his feet had Naruto jumping in surprise. The scroll rolled open to reveal blanks slots and names with all but one faded and hard to read. "To summon toads you first have to sign this scroll in blood," Jiraiya told him, no trace of anything other than seriousness in his face or voice. It was actually a bit creepy, even after only a day of knowing the man.

Blood, huh? Naruto frowned, looking down at the scroll in thought. Something told him, in the very pit of his stomach, that this was a far more serious affair that it seemed. He wasn't sure why and he almost considered refusing however he was never good at thinking these thing all the way out so before he could question it any further, Naruto bit down hard on his thumb. Touching it to the next blanks slot, he signed his name in his best handwriting.

The scroll glowed as soon as he removed his thumb and the feeling in his gut disappeared. "Now what?!" Naruto demanded, turning eyes to the smiling Sennin.

"Watch closely," The sage told him before bring up his hands. "Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, and Ram in that order. Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Jiraiya slammed his hand on the ground, calling yet another toad into existence.

"Jiraiya-sama," the toad greeted, bowing. Naruto looked at the toad with large, wide eyes. Large katana adorned his back and he while he was smaller than that other toad he was just as intimidating.

"Gamahiro," Jiraiya greeted. "Meet Uzumaki Naruto. I've just had him sign the toad contract."

The toad turned to look at Naruto, scrutinizing his appearance with large round eyes. "I will inform Gamabunta-sama." It said before disappearing.

"They can talk!" Naruto practically screamed after the shock finally faded away. The scroll carrying toad actually snorted at him before disappearing as well.

Jiraiya laughed. "You don't know much about summons do you?" he asked shaking his head. Naruto glared at him, jutting his bottom lip out in what was definitely _not_ a pout! "Practice those hand signs!"

Grumbling internally, Naruto did as instructed. He knew the importance of hand signs just like every other ninja did and so began making the signs in the order Jiraiya had showed him.

It was going to be a long morning.

* * *

The Kyuubi no Kitsune, known to very few as Kurama, was currently cursing every known deity there was.

Years of keeping the curse bound and buried had all been rendered useless due to that Snake ningen and its stupid five pronged seal! With his chakra suddenly cut off from everywhere other than this horrible cage, he had been forced to watch as the curse his host had been affiliated with ran rampant through the boy's body and soul.

Kurama had only ever seen this accursed disease once before, when the ninja still warred with each other in clans alone. One of the few remnants of the time before the Rikudo Sennin, during the time before Chakra.

Chakra was the mixture of spiritual energy and physical energy yet humanity had not always had the ability to combine the two in order to form chakra. It was Otsutsuki Kaguya who ate from the Shinju tree that had brought chakra to humanity, altering the species forever more.

Yet superhuman abilities had existed ever before Kaguya had consumed the Chakra Fruit, in the form of pure spiritual energies. Kurama knew ever little about this as he was only born decades after Kaguya had brought chakra to the world and the Rikudo Sennin had always shelter him and the other bijuu from the world until he eventually died. By that time, these past abilities had already become mere legends.

What he did know was that curses, _diseases_ , such as this one were one of the few things to survive the arrival of chakra as it was passed person to person in the form of a bite. The first time he had seen it, the infected human had been a slave to the curse, transforming into a mindless beast every full moon. To the naked eyes, at least.

To the eyes of a bijuu, who could see everything that a person was, the transformation was both horrifying and fascinating. There were four types of chakra: human, animal, natural, and plant. The disease infected the spiritual energy of the humans, changing it from to that of a animals, usually the wolf's. With the change of spiritual energy, the human host became unstable as the physical energy they produced did not properly combine. The result was that the two vastly different energies began to war in the human's system until the warring began to destroy the very essence of the human, making it a mindless beast. The spiritual energy was amplified at the rise of every full moon and over-powered the physical energy. After becoming dominant, the energy attempted to change the host's form to fit it, resulting in a deformed version of that animal.

Kurama still wasn't sure how it worked, exactly, and he hadn't wanted to find out. Unfortunately, it looked like he was going to become intimately involved in the exact process this disease used as it infected every crevasse of his host.

Gathering up his chakra, Kurama began to put together a desperate attempt to save his host, and therefore himself. This was going to take finesse and it was going to take a lot of luck.

 **"** **This had better work,"** the bijuu snarled to itself and went to work.

* * *

Naruto was falling and it was all that damn pervert's fault!

After days of working on the summoning jutsu, he had gotten nowhere other than tadpoles. Naruto wasn't sure why Ero-Sennin had decided to use this route to teach him. Surely there were easier ways to teach him to summon?!

Desperately, he channeled chakra to his hands and made a grab at the walls of the canyon. It was no good and it barely even dented his fall.

"Come on, come on!" Naruto whispered as he started pulling at his chakra, grabbing every little bit of it that he could. He was going to die, Naruto realized as he found not nearly enough chakra answering his calls.

Closing his eyes in preparation and cursing his insane teacher, Naruto was surprised to reopen them inside what looked suspiciously like a sewer with glowing silver walls that were lined with red.

Naruto moved forward, almost compelled to follow the path deeper into this strange place he had appeared. He tried to fight it, to move backwards but it was useless and soon, Naruto found himself at the end of the pathway.

He was slightly stunned to find a giant cage with a glowing red entity inside waiting for him at the end.

"Who are you?" he asked, his voice strangely echoing in this empty place. "Where are we?" Why did it feel so safe here?

 **"** **So my jailer appears before me at last,"** a demonic voice echoed from the cage. Eyes that were larger than the Hokage monument opened and Naruto took a step back, all feelings of safety leaving his mind.

It laughed, a deep and rumbling sound that made Naruto wince. **"Frightened?"** It asked. **"You should be!"**

Claw that had to be three times his size slammed through the bars, just barely missing Naruto. The blond yelped and toppled over into the water that covered the floor.

"Who the hell are you?!" Naruto yelled at it, pissed and terrified at the same time. He had no clue what was going on or where this place even was.

 **"** **Do you think me stupid, child?!"** the monster roared. **"Or are you truly as stupid as you seem? I will indulge you, however. Just this once."**

And the dark cage brightened so that Naruto could see what sat within its bars. Glowing red and bigger than anything he'd ever seen with nine tails fluttering behind it. "Kyuubi," Naruto said, understanding finally flashing into his mind. With more courage than he truly had, he glared at the giant fox.

The fox glared back, slitted eyes holding more malice than all of the villagers combined. **"Hmmm,"** the Kyuubi rumbled. **"You are not as dumb as I assumed. I am indeed the Kyuubi no Kitsune. And you are the accursed human that holds me inside this decaying place."**

"H-hey foxface!" Naruto yelled as he remembered exactly what he was doing. "It's time to pay rent! Lend me your chakra!"

The fox studied him for a long moment. **"This once,"** it said with a growl. **"We are in danger and there is little time to lose so I will allow your disrespect this once, ningen. Come to me again with such words and I will teach you why I am feared amongst your people."**

Naruto stomped down on the terror that rose in his chest only moments before he was covered in red chakra.

 **"** **Be grateful for my help, ningen."** The fox roared as Naruto began to fade from view. **"And we will be conversing soon. Be ready for it!"**

Eyes snapping open in the real world, Naruto bit down on his thumb and flashed through the hand signs rapidly. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

And suddenly, he was no longer falling.

* * *

Kurama watched to space where his host had once been. So that was the host he was now bound to? The orange monstrosity it called clothing and its foolish words made the oldest of the bijuu growl in anger.

No, he would not accept things to remain as they were. With all the work and chakra he had invested into this ningen, it would learn to treat him with respect. And it would learn quickly.

Kurama looked to the silver and red coated wall of the cage, the only changes to his prison since he had found himself here thirteen years ago, smug in his knowledge of why they were that way. **"It will learn,"** he rumbled aloud before resettling himself in the darkness of his cage.

 **"** **I will make sure of it."**

* * *

 **And there you have it folks. Everything I have so far of this story rewrite. Which is sooo much better than the original and is actually starting to form a cohesive plot, unlike Mangetsu Kitsune.**

 **When I was writing Mangetsu Kitsune, I can honestly say that I had no idea where I wanted to go with that story. It was just a vague idea I had a small snippet written for on one of the many days I found myself home sick with nothing to do. In fact, I posted it on a whim and soon found myself regretting that decision as I had no idea where to go from what I had written. I never really expected that many people to like it and it was one of my least popular stories. For a long time, I considered just abandoning it but I really wanted to see what I could do with the vague plot I had going.**

 **So far, I'm rather pleased with how this version is turning out. I've got pages of plot planned out. My writing has gotten exponentially better since I first posted Mangetsu Kitsune and I think that I have a good shot at actually making this work.**

 **You're all amazing and I appreciate you giving this story a shot!**

 **~MisteryMaiden~**


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